Tag Archives: Vinyl

Time for my obligatory Record Store Day 2015 post. I’ll even phone it in.

I’m not wild about Record Store Day this year. I’m not plotting and planning and scheming how to get those elusive gems that I’m sure will walk out the door after the first few customers. At this point, I participate in Record Store Day for tradition and to support local vinyl shops. There’s no one disc that’ll get me out of bed before the sun comes up to get in line and wait for the 8am open. It’s the activity. It’s a morning that belongs to me. No familial obligations, no place else I need to be… I’ll talk records, buy records and then go home and play records. I’ll tell the 5yo about my morning and she’ll question me with the full powers of her 5yo logic.

Participating record shops open at 8am. Gone are the midnight opens. The RSD organization really needs to lift the ban on the midnight opens. They really put the kibosh on a great experience for forcing participating stores to open in the morning. The queue’s more congenial and the wait less tiresome. There’s far better conversation at 1am, more reason to stand around and chat. At 8am everyone’s a bit crabby because they’ve been standing in line since 4am or something stupid like that.

Part of the thrill is having no clue what your store is going to have available. And no matter how much you study the list in preparation for that dash through the stacks, nothing ever goes to plan. You’ll find some stuff you never knew you needed, guaranteed. But since I like to have scuttled plans, here’s my wishlist for RSD15.

30Hz Record Store Day 2015 Wishlist

Sun Records Sampler Volume 2:

Picked up Volume 1 last year. Great selection of tunes and the Sun Records catalog runs deep. And since I’m a completist, I’ll just keep picking up every damn release they come up with.

Thai Pop Spectacular: 1960-1980

One of the great joys of RSD is picking up oddities like this. These two ladies will slot in nicely next to my Nippon Girls records of Japanese pop hits.

Willie Nelson – Teatro

This is essential Willie. I don’t have this on vinyl. A clean copy would be a lovely thing. This might be my most wanted item for RSD15.

Music to Drink Beer To (compiled by Dogfish Head)

I drink a lot of Dogfish Head and eat at their brew pub in Delaware each year. I don’t see why having music to drink Dogfish Head by could be a bad thing. The track list boasts Bob Dylan, Taj Mahal, A Tribe Called Quest, Muddy Waters, Iggy and the Stooges, Uncle Tupelo… etc.

Frank Sinatra – Songs for Young Lovers

One of Sinatra’s greatest records. I’ve got a lot of Sinatra on vinyl… but not this one.

Jurassic Five – Quality Control (The Wood Box)

It’s Jurassic Five! In a wood box! I love Jurassic Five and the wood box means classy.

Bernard Herrman – Psycho

BHerm on vinyl is always essential. Some of his trademark work right here. Scare the neighbor kids off your lawn.

Side by Side – “Walk On By”

Each year the RSD brains come up with a series of Side-By-Side releases, 7″ singles with two artists who covered the same song. To me, this is the most interesting of the 2015 releases. Dionne Warwick and The Stranglers doing “Walk On By.”

Country Joe & the Fish – Together

Coincidentally I just got into listening to Country Joe after picking up the Zachariah soundtrack. It’s seems little bit like fate that they’ve got a RSD15 release then. Don’t mess with fate, boys and girls.

Simple Minds – Celebrate, Live from the SSE Hydro Glasgow

As a Simple Minds junkie, I can’t pass up a 2 x colored, clear vinyl live album. I can’t. I might try, but if it’s in the store, it’ll be in my grasp. Come over. I’ll play it for you. We’ll have a Simple Minds jam session with everything they’ve ever recorded. On vinyl. We’ll have gin rickeys. I dunno. What do you drink while listening to Simple Minds? Maybe Dogfish Head has some suggestions.

Most Wanted Record Store Day 2014 Releases

(I first met Jenn on the now defunct tables at turntable.com. I can absolutely vouch for her impeccable taste when it comes to the sweet sounds of the 19-Alt-80’s and beyond.)

David Bowie – 1984 picture disc

Bowie is a bucket list kind of performer for me. Maybe one day I’ll get to see him in concert, if he ever deigns to return to the stage. I like the look of the disc, maybe it’ll tide me over until I can see the Thin White Duke live.

Chvrches – Recover EP

I’m a huge Sundays fan, so the lead singer of this band reminds me a lot of Harriet Wheeler. They have a very retro modern sound, and opened on a few dates for Depeche Mode on their last tour.

Nirvana – Pennyroyal Tea

I’m just a Nirvana fan, regardless of what anyone thinks of them. It’s been 20 years since Kurt’s gone, and I can only imagine what would have come next. I would love to find this on RSD for sentimental reasons.

Joy Division – An Ideal For Living

Super excited about this one. I’ve been an enormous Joy Division fan for as long as I can remember. This is the vinyl release of their debut EP.

Most Wanted Record Store Day 2014 Releases

by DJ Demangone (@demangone)

(In my mind DJ is the antidisestablishmentarian of musical appreciation. I have no idea how that applies to music but it just sound right. His picks are typically off most radars, but they should be on yours.)

Gonga – Black Sabbeth

I first heard of Gonga from an Aquarius Records description, where they were compared to the Melvins. I get more of a Kyuss vibe from them, which is never a bad thing. Anyway, Gonga covers Black Sabbath’s titular song with Beth Gibbons from Portishead on vocals, hence the misspelling of the name. There’s not much more to say. The Cardigans have covered Sabbath and I liked it. I’ve got high hopes for this one.

Cave In – Jupiter

My list includes a lot of stuff that I already own, mostly on other formats. I already have a copy of this on vinyl and cd, but one of the issues with the album has always been the mix – the bass is buried. The good news is that it’s been remixed by James Plotkin of Phantomsmasher, Khanate, and OLD fame. The story of this albums is essentially “a teenaged metal band from Boston matured a bit and released some Floyd homage”, I still like this thing a lot.

Sacrifice Poles – s/t

The brother from another mother, essentially outtake jams from the Jupiter recording sessions, Sacrifice Poles is Cave In sans vocals. I remember listening to this album a lot as a freshman in college in the darkroom. As with Jupiter, this guy will also be getting remastered by Plotkin. It’s also the first time that it will be available on vinyl. Of the records I’m looking for, this is the one I’ll probably have to end up finding online.

Pantera/Poison Idea – The Badge

Pantera covered this Poison Idea song for the Crow Soundtrack. They did a great job with an already great song. It can’t hurt to own both versions on one record, right?

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Hey Joe

I like Charlotte Gainsbourg, I like Beck, I like the song Hey Joe, and I like Sebastien. Hard to go wrong with this, except that it’s $13 for a 7” – which is just dumb.

Record Store Day 2013 is upon us. Even if you aren’t participating in the vinyl resurgence, RSD offers more for music fans than just vinyl. Artists release vinyl, CD and sometimes even cassette tapes for the occasion. But you don’t even need to spend money to participate. Record Store Day isn’t about vinyl or digital; it’s about music lovers of all ages and flavors coming together to celebrate the independent music merchants. The stores I’ve visited during the last few Record Store Days become hangouts, just like they used to be. Many serve food and drink and encourage everyone to stay, chat about music and just enjoy the company of complete strangers as crazy (and often crazier) about music than you. On Saturday, April 20th (or Friday night even!), go forth, be one with the obsessive music lovers. I bet you’ll have a good conversation or two.

For those new to RSD, I’ll share a few of my tips for enjoying the festivities.

As I mentioned, artists release RECORD STORE DAY ONLY EXCLUSIVES to catalyze the merrymaking and commerce.

If you’re pining over a particular RECORD STORE DAY EXCLUSIVE, find a store opening at midnight.

Many of these RSD releases are quite-to-extremely limited. Some are regional only. A rare and/or popular release will sell fast. The only way to be sure is get your butt out to a participating record store on Friday evening and know what you want. Get there before midnight because there will be a line. Also, most people working a Record Store Day midnight event will be happy to point you in the direction of a particular disc. If you’re familiar with record store filing methods, a clerk’s assistance might prove invaluable.

Even if you don’t care about the exclusives (or your store doesn’t participate in selling exclusives), many stores have specials, sales and still participate in the festivities.

Stores that only carry used vinyl often offer sales or grab bag crates of random vinyl. I can almost guarantee that your favorite local record store will participate in some fashion. When in doubt, give ’em a call. Or just use the day as a good reason to show up and browse the racks.

In case you were wondering, here’s my list of titles I’m interested in. And yes, I’ll be out Friday night to share the midnight madness.

This is just a quick sampling of the titles I’ll be looking for. I won’t get them all. I’ll get some that aren’t listed here… (because this list doesn’t even include regional stuff)… but this is my gameplan that will surely change when faced with the piles and piles of vinyl. I believe they call this freeballin’. And if they don’t, that’s a shame.

Some bands thrive, while others, inexplicably disappear. The glory days of 80’s minimalist synth comprised roughly the years from 1982 until 1985 with fits and spurts every since. This trend has often been called Minimal Wave. For the sake of brevity, I’ll consider it a legitimate micro-genre and not enter into any broader discussions about whether it deserves its own classification outside of the more common but equally maddening delineations of Synthpop, Electropop, Synthpunk and Coldwave. Well known bands like Kraftwerk or Front 242 that fit the profile transcended micro-genre classification because they simply gained popular appeal. Staples of the genre included elementary musical structure, relatively unpolished production (part and parcel with the “I’m-trying-so-hard-I’m-not-really-trying facade) and the use of analog synthesizers and drum machines. Minimal Wave sounds mechanical and often repetitious to the point of numbness. Let it be said that this is not a nostalgia post. 97.9% of this style of music proved disposable, but from within these Dogme-like constraints, a few artists recorded brilliant lo-fi sounds of 80’s-era emptiness and disillusionment. It should come as no surprise to any fan of 80s music that Germany became an epicenter for this style of music. And it is from Germany that today’s forgotten band of the 80’s hails. Jyl (pronounced: Jill), named after lead singer Jyl Porch, deserved a better fate than a one-record catalog and total anonymity by the turn of the decade, particularly since Klaus Schulze, electronic-music legend and one-time member of Tangerine Dream, produced the record. Jyl shares a vocal kinship with notable front-women like Annie Lennox and Siouxsie, but her more even-tempered crooning fit the electronic bleeps and blips perfectly. This album really is a gem and if you happen across it in any secondhand record shop or flea market, buy it immediately. You won’t regret it. And I will be jealous because I am still searching for my copy.

Jyl – Universe

I’d love to offer more information on the band or their subsequent projects but I’m finding very little information of note. Okay, I’m finding nothing at all. The part about being German doesn’t help my cause. They just seem less prone to the frivolous sharing of information. No sales numbers, no singles charts. I’ve got nothing other than a few blogs out there on the Interwebs that have dedicated pages, not entirely unlike this one, to the cause of bringing Jyl back to some music fans that might indeed like to discover something old and fresh.